New@FREW

Release Date: 12 Nov 2004

• Pages: 36
• Price: $2.20 inc. GST
• Cover: César Spadari & Jim Shepherd
• No Phantom Forum in this issue

• Of the Same Blood
  • Script: David Bishop
  • Art: César Spadari
  • First published in Fantomen Nr.24/2004 by Egmont, Scandinavia. Original cover shown on the left, thanks to Simon Treschow.

• Message from the Publisher:
  We continue the saga of Year One of The Phantom in this issue, with the gripping new story, Of The Same Blood!
  David Bishop wrote the story and César Spadari has excelled himself with some of the most magnificent artwork you are ever likely to see in a Phantom comic book.
  Kate Somerset stars again, we witness the appearance of a new Ghost Who Walks, find out what happens to Chris, the son of Kate and the now departed Phantom and discover how the life story of Kate came to be deposited in the Skull Cave!
  Writer Bishop has used his imagination in an attempt to fill in some of the blanks in The Phantom chronology creator Lee Falk never had time to explain. Once again, I remind you that the "history" in this story cannot be regarded as official. Sadly, short of somebody one day finding written notes made by Lee Falk, we will never know the full background of his superb comics creation. I doubt that Lee ever made a rough plan covering the full life of all who took over the role of The Ghost Who Walks. In the many meetings we had over some 11 years, he never hinted that he had worked up even a preliminary schedule of events. It is one of the great disappointments in the world history of comics! All that said, look forward to some superb entertainment in Of The Same Blood!
  We will return to the series in the very near future, but to provide some variety in our 2004 publishing schedule, we will bring you another new, but totally unrelated adventure in our next issue. In Frew #1401, which goes on sale on 26 November, we will bring you a story entitled Prisoner 21. In this adventure, The Phantom is approached by President Luaga to somehow get himself into Boomsby Prison - not as an undercover agent, but as a convicted criminal! The Phantom, sent to Boomsby as "Prisoner 21 - Walker" undertakes an incredibly dangerous role. He has to pose as a hardened criminal in an effort to gain the confidence of an arch fiend named Brains Brannighan whom Luaga is convinced is running his gang from within Boomsby Prison!
  I'm not about to give away more of the plot of the story, but here's something interesting. In Prisoner 21 you will find overtones of the famous story The Bird Man Of Alcatraz which was turned into a highly successful movie starring Burt Lancaster. There are also overtones of the one escape (believed to have been successful) from Alcatraz which still exists, though not as an operating prison, on a rocky outcrop in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California. Alcatraz, long considered an escape-proof prison, now opens its gates and cells every day to thousands of tourists!
  You will find Prisoner 21 fascinating for another reason - while it first appeared in Scandinavia more than 20 years ago, it has never been published by Frew and therefore falls into the "new story" category. The adventure was written by the late Donne Avenell and illustrated by Heiner Bade. Bade faced a number of challenges, not the least of which was maintaining the mysterious aura of The Phantom when dressed in a prison uniform! Not an easy task! I know you will be surprised by Bade's ingenious artwork!

Jim Shepherd
Publisher